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How much should USA's visitors be entitled to 1st and 2nd amendment rights?

ernestm June 06, 2019 at 02:01 2850 views 6 comments
Recently the USA required that all visa applicants, including tourists, provide access to all their social media accounts for the last five years. This would be considered a violation of rights to privacy if enforced for US citizens on, for example, employment applications. I have no idea what would happen if a tourist shot someone in self defense.

How much should visitors to the USA be entitled to 1st and 2nd amendment protections?

Comments (6)

Brett June 06, 2019 at 02:34 #294931
“In general, the first ten amendments, known collectively as the Bill of Rights, offer specific protections of individual liberty and justice and place restrictions on the powers of government.” Wikipedia.

‘The scope of the Constitution is twofold. First, "to form a more perfect Union" than had previously existed in the "perpetual Union" of the Articles of Confederation. Second, to "secure the blessings of liberty",’ Wikipedia.

You would think that the idea of ‘the blessings of liberty’, if they mean anything should apply to all people. So shouldn’t the spirit of the 1st and 2nd amendment apply to all people of the world?

Though I accept things are not that simple.
ernestm June 06, 2019 at 02:44 #294932
Quoting Brett
You would think that the idea of ‘the blessings of liberty’, if they mean anything should apply to all people.


If one goes back to the natural rights from which authority is promulgated, then it appears 'the blessings of liberty' belong to those who have agreed to the social contract. That would be signified by a person agreeing to keep the laws of the USA while they are here, and would still be entitled to a firearm for self defense, and to assemble in public protest. If they agreed to obey the USA's laws, it should not be significant what they previously have shared or written on social media.
Brett June 06, 2019 at 03:04 #294934
Quoting ernestm
it appears 'the blessings of liberty' belong to those who have agreed to the social contract. That would be signified by a person agreeing to keep the laws of the USA


Which would be signified by becoming a citizen. Citizenship is an agreement and acceptance. So those amendments apply only to citizens.
ernestm June 06, 2019 at 03:07 #294936
Quoting Brett
Which would be signified by becoming a citizen. Citizenship is an agreement and acceptance. So those amendments apply only to citizens.


That's a little ironic, as one common criticism of natural rights is that we are never given a choice whether to accept the social contract into which we are born. On the other hand, people who visit the USA are explicitly given a checkbox "Do you agree to abide by the laws of the USA while you are here?"
Brett June 06, 2019 at 03:24 #294942
Nor do you get citizenship merely by agreeing to the laws of the USA, you have to be accepted.
ernestm June 06, 2019 at 03:29 #294947
Reply to Brett Yes, then you have to swear an oath out loud too, but the oath is to allegiance. You don't have to agree the rules are right if you are just entering the country as a visitor. You only have to agree to obey them. But that should be enough to provide benefits of the social contract, shouldn't it?

One can imagine how people in the Middle East are already ridiculing the obvious injustices that will result from tourist visa applicants having their social media accounts reviewed.